heh Patch the alpha cat (at least in our home, for now) He's kinda my cat, and like me, when we had people over today, people he didn't know, but I did. What did he do? Did he be all couragous and approach them? nope, he did something I might do when I meet people I don't know for him it's staying out of sight, for me it's being shy.

heh, dad brought up an entertaining story. When he taught a bible study at this guy's house, there was a cat that weighed 25 pounds. Quite a fat cat. To use someone else's words in my imagination "a fuzzball with legs". Apparently his reputation as a fat cat was solidified by the fact that once he fell asleep with his face in his own food! (rotfl the first time I heard that one). One time apparently the Guy let one, or was it two? dogs in the house (dad actually saw this otherwise I might not believe it myself). This fat cat jumped all the was ontop of the refrigerator in ONE jump! Apparently this "Fat cat" was very motivated by something other then food. hehe

Someone made the comment after I called it a "fuzzball with legs" (yes, I'm using it again :P) "It was more likely a fuzzball with feet".

Oh and dad I was curious and sooner or later I was bound to switch that red switch :P
I really think you should paint the wood, and not me... I mean, You loooove painting!
And you love sitting in the fishstores for hours (especially when it's not aquarium adventure, which for anyone else has a couch, while the others don't even have a chair to sit on) while I look at all the interesting little fishies in the store. Fortunately for you the fishstory which I could basically spend all day at (aquarium adventure), has a couch for you. So many interesting plants, equipment, and fishies at that store. It's like a fishkeepers paradise. *starts to reminisce (sighs)* Oh I'm doing that again aren't I... oopsies... It's been far too long since the last time I was there. *Hint, hint*. Can you guess where I'd like to go soon :P
And no I will not walk there! or call a cab! As you usually reply....... Plus going there basically gaurentees you 2 hours to read minimum, if it didn't then I don't know what the worlds coming to :P (I'm probably underestimating the minimum time on that lol)

I still want to see hope get stuck going through the cat door, she's getting close. No where never the size of that 25 pound cat though. It would take hope, and tiger combined to get within a few pounds of that. I wonder if we'll have a family reunion again up by grandma's again. That was fun... though I do remember hearing something about them selling the farm it was at though... or was that a dream I had recently... maybe it was both! I think I did have a dream a couple days ago. YES, now I remember it now, well faintly, but I remember it had to do with a farm, the reason they were selling it (in the dream), was it caught fire real easily, and while I was viewing it caught fire, burned around 1/10 of it. The other reason was the owner was getting old. Now my dreams tend to correspond to things that are happening. The fire is obviously comes from the fact I keep hearing about the Arizona fires. The rest is well due to the fact I brought up this topic the day before, or two days before this dream. I remember we went up in a bus... That obviously is why this is a dream... and the fact I was standing there while the fire was spreading (I was just standing there watching it). Unlike real life the fire didn't get over a foot high, so it didn't obviously look very menacing, and it burned in a line, not all at once. Beyond that I don't remember much of it... Oh I remember my dream last night, or was it the night before. I had an xbox 360 the white one (apparently an xbox 360 came with the kinect, which I didn't know until two days ago; again with my dream's relevance to my dream, I kinda like that though) Some people apparently came and decided to steal it, I was letting them for my obvious safety but then they shot me, now this is the strange part. I actually somehow froze it kinda, or replayed it, I actually don't understand it exactly... so strange... I basically stopped because it didn't go right? and replayed it but this time I forced my will on the events (that's the best way I can explain it) and instead of hitting me anywhere my mind forced the events so that it hit me in the shoulder in an area not hitting the lungs or the major blood vessels to my arms (it's pretty small I think). My plan in my mind was for someone to find me, I'm not sure what happens next, but later I remember getting out my second xbox 360, (the one that came with the kinect) and it's all good from there.

Now that I speak about "my will forcing it". I think I'll share a revelation about dreams that I had quite a few years ago. You see things always kept happening outside of my control. Bad things, like meeting a horrible fate at the hands of a bear (that's a recuring theme for me, really, it's probably the most common why for me to die, that and gators). Oh speaking of gators I know last night I had a dream about Gators, and I'm not sure exactly but I know they were smart! Planning attacks! Kinda like jaws. Note to self don't watch part of a jaws movie before going to bed, I actually got up in the middle of it when I realized it lasted until midnight, so I went to bed at around 11. It was still fresh in my mind, which explains this...... So basically the people, including me, are trying to protect the people around, and their land. Now some are meeting a grizzly fate at the hand of gators... Now the land is basically flooded with what else but H2O! (sarcasm included :P). Now I, or was it me in someone else's shoes was about to go and do something irrational due to emotions. Then I'm the person that tells them, and actually holds them back at the last moment. And seconds later A gator, that had planned to kill this person snaps. well I think this person was thankful, but we just looked at eachother knowingly. I don't remember how it ends though, it didn't probably. Those annoy me sometimes... I think there was one case where I should've been eaten, but thankfully to this revelation I had years ago I didn't. You see most people when they are about to die, wake up. Well, I, unlike these people, Don't. So I would actually experience these deaths. Eaten by polar bears, bears, gators, stabbed. strangely falling through the sky was never a nightmare for me, yet it's a fear of mine. Drowning either. Though the flooding is obviously a representation of that fear, since it occurs whenever the gators do. The gators are the most common ones as of late. Bears used to be. heh, one time I even had a dream about flying jackolanterns, which talked, and had guns... talk about too much chocolate before bed... Way too much caffeine for me that night obviously...

Now after I had, had one of these a thought started common to my mind in dreams, now I need to tell you that in quite a few dreams I'll realize that it's a dream. Actually when I wake up in the middle of one I'll focus on what happened in the dream and It'll usually continue on, until I keep waking up so frequently, I woke up too much, or It takes too long to go back to sleep to continue the dream. Kinda cool really... strange even if I don't like the dream I'll do this too, guess I just want a conclusion. Now in those dreams I knew, I went back to a what I had heard in cartoons and such, You are in control, It's your mind. Now I have to say They were right! I still don't wake up when I'm about to die, but ever since I was able to impliment this into my dream, I don't die nearly as painfully (in my eyes), or as frequently (well before it was all the time). Though in both cases like a video game I'd, you may have guessed it, I respawn, usually around where I was. Thankfully I've never gotten killed twice by this, It may be a little bit later, but never by the same thing the got me earlier. Though once (the one with the polar bears on our soccer field (I was thinking about star wars... ok... Hoth specifically XD) I ran my tail off when I respawned around where I fell, I ran and ran and apparently in my dream once I was inside they wouldn't bother us (Thankfully :P). Now I learned that if I think hard enough, I can do things that I shouldn't be able to do. like in one case A fighter jet was about to fire on me as a person, I thought about becoming a fight, a second later (after a second try at thinking hard) I became one, fired some missiles, and destroyed the aircraft, then I returned to where I was before in the air and turned back into a person (this was all in third person btw). I've been able to avoid many unavoidable deaths this way. Though it's role has been diminished since I got it to work. I mostly let the dreams flow, and I'm just a rider, I don't try to control it, or realize it's a dream anymore, though in places when I'm about to die, it kicks in and skips over it like fast forward on a tape. Though I remember one of the best reasons I'm glad for this ability, though this is before I got this kind of control. This happened after Cinnamon died, It hurt...

This dream was of cinnamon Alive. part way in the dream I finally realized that this was a dream. Did I get mad? No, quite the opposite. I realized exactly what this meant, I could pet her again! That's exactly what I did, the whole time, I kept thinking/wanted the dream to keep going, It was the time I most fiercely resisted waking up. Because I knew, (I guess I just knew it in my heart) that this would be the only time this would happen. I wanted it to last as long as possible. In my heart I really had wished I had payed more attention to her. I kinda blamed myself for not doing so. So I just sat there petting her. Best dream I ever had. This was before Patch took her place in my heart. Plus, I was much younger then, It affected me pretty deeply. I cried for her, I do know that. yeah... There was no negative emotions in that dream, and unlike any other I remember it was the least crazy, no interruptions, until I woke up sadly... Wow, I just realized that when I think of camera like memories of cinnamon, that's the only one I have. I don't believe this was a normal dream. That dream helped me like no other. After that dream, I was really able to get on with life. It helped me get over it. I was able to put to rest almost all the blame I placed on myself for what happened. I think I was 10, September 2003 is when she died I think. It wasn't long after we moved in I know that. It was either 2003 or 2004 though. Patch and I weren't anywhere near as close. Personally I think It was a God given dream. I mean what else could've made the environment serene, with nothing other then positive feelings in a 10 YO me?

Oh talking about getting patch did bring back one thing, mom, and dad didn't want to get patch because he looked way too energetic. After hearing that I remember my response "He just wants out of the cage!" (that does sound like a kid doesn't it :P) In the few moments I saw him I already loved 'em. Actually he's probably the only cat I was really serious about treating really nicely, gently handling, and not approaching him too fast. At the time Sneaky really didn't likely (that's an understatement; You hear a hiss you would know Sneaky and I were within 6 feet of each other :P) And now look at 'em, You take mom or dad back then, They'd ask where's sneaky? (if they saw my petting him, now without him attempting to give me a kitty tattoo :P).
I also didn't actually pick patch up for many months, which definetely helped as well, since I didn't exactly pick them up the right way. (they don't like being held belly up lol).
Now if I could only get Mia to actually be comfortable in my presence.... only time will tell....
as with Sneakers, time will tell.

Now it's 11:40 geez, this took more then a hour to write (I think I've been writing since 10:24 PM; when I got off Gmail basically... well I wonder what dream will take place, with me you never know, it could be cars floating in rivers with water guns and Yogi bear (heh, this actually happened in one dream! again what in the world did I eat before going to bed, does come to mind... :D I like those kinds of dreams everyonce in awhile)

Well I got to go to bed, Patch is starting to meow at me, which means he wants me to go to bed, so he can jump on my bed with me. it's now 11:45 heh from 10:24 to 11:45 wow, that's long....

as I was about to write this is what I hear "No! Sneakers! (from both parents actually), Get back here (from dad). I think Sneakers decided he wanted to go into the garage again, but I believe the garage door was open.

I need to correct an error. It's Mia, not Mai As pointed out by dad... -_-

Also I wasn't sure about this part of the snake story but apparently it was an actuality. When I got up there, with my dad there was three cats all intently staring at the snake. I can hear their thoughts now "ooooo, a new toy!" and the snakes: "oh, I'll never escape again if I get out of this.".

oh I hear thunder, must be the storm that spawned the Severe Thunderstorm Warning in Franklin county. It lasts until 6 something I think. I think it's North of us though. I added water to the fish tank, I also got some of the parameters in the tank, and I wrote them down.

Ammonia - 0 PPM
Nitrite - around 2 PPM (a bit high)
Nitrate - around 2 through 5 PPM (perfectly fine)
PH - it's in the 7.4 to 7.6 range.

Nitrate is the least toxic of these, and it's the final form this is the Nitrogen cycle

Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate

it always starts off as ammonia which is very toxic to fish. Then it's turned into Nitrite by Bacteria, which is still pretty toxic, but less so then ammonia. Finally Nitrite is turned into Nitrate by different bacteria. Nitrate is much less toxic then Ammonia, or Nitrate is. The fish could easily stand up to 20 PPM of it. While 20 PPM of Nitrite or ammonia would most certainly be fatal. Heck 5 PPM of ammonia would probably be fatal. on the test kit it measures ammonia from 0 to 8 PPM, if it's at 8 you need to act, that's why it only goes that high. But the Nitrate goes from 0-160 PPM (quite a difference). The best way to quickly fix one of these would be an emergency water change. That's the easiest way. It measures Nitrite 0-5 PPM. Though this is most likely due to the fact it's the middle stage. It doesn't usually need to be measured any other time, other then when the tank is young. But ammonia, and Nitrate will, at all times. An Ammonia buildup would mean the strain on the tank is too much (AKA too many fish/plants). Plants do consume Nitrate which is nice though :P. A great reason for live plants over artificial ones. Nitrate will need to be measured since it is the last stage in the nitrogen cycle. Even though Nitrate is extremely low in toxicity it's like a weak acid, though not strong enough exposure to a lot of it will eventually dissolve anything including Teeth! As an experiment dad told me about putting a tooth in soda pop. A few days later "huh, didn't we put a tooth in here?" The same concept applies.

I also saw some brown algae. give me a sec I think I know what that means, but I want to look it up to be sure I'm right. It might be a different algae I'm thinking of..... *looking*

oh I was mistaken... That's blue-green algae that does that. Brown algae won't harm the fishies. Unlike blue-green algae, which is actually a bacteria. Blue-green algae actually releases toxicans into the water which obviously is bad for the fish. Though the above 7 PH does explain the lessened activity of the albino bronze corys (they like acidic water)